Dig finds new species of dinosaur

Fossils of a dinosaur discovered in Thailand from layers of earth dating back some 120 million years were found to be those of an unknown species of iguanodon, a Japanese university said yesterday.

The new dinosaur, believed to be six metres tall, has been given the scientific name of “Sirindhorna khoratensis” after HRH Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn.

A group of Japanese and Thai researchers conducted joint research on the skull, jawbone, cheekbone and other fossils unearthed between 2006 and 2012 in northeastern Thailand.

The iguanodon was a herbivorous dinosaur that thrived mainly in the Cretaceous period (145 to 66 million years ago). It initially lived in Europe and North America and is thought to have expanded its habitat to Asia in the Early Cretaceous period.

Masateru Shibata, a researcher at Fukui Prefectural University’s Dinosaurs Research Institute, said fossils of iguanodons have been found in Japan as well.

The latest finding in Thailand is “valuable as it shows iguanodons lived in a wide area of Asia”, he said.

The fossils of Sirindhorna khoratensis will be on display at the Fukui Prefectural Dinosaur Museum in central Japan from Jan 30. A thesis on the discovery has been posted on PLOS ONE, an open-access US scientific journal.

Tawsaporn Nuchanong, deputy chief of the Department of Mineral Resources, said the fossil is the 9th dinosaur species found in Thailand.